'Finest display of machinery ever seen in Rochfortbridge'
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Sean Óg Cocoman, Padraig Lynch and Joey Boyle.Image 2 of 7
Owen Murphy and Dylan Curley.Image 3 of 7
Michael Fox and Emma McManus.Image 4 of 7
Rhys and Brendan Mulligan with Brian Sr and Brian Jr Curley.Image 5 of 7
Kyle Kearney, James Taylor and Liam Lavelle from Coralstown.Image 6 of 7
Darragh Smullen from The Downs and Adam Kenny from Clonkill.Image 7 of 7
Niamh Sheridan, Darragh Glynn and Helena Heduan from the St Joseph’s staff.All at St Joseph’s Secondary School, Rochfortbridge were delighted with the number of tractors that turned up, and the large numbers of people who joined them for tea and refreshments, when they hosted their tractor run.
The event was a first for the school, and already they are thinking about the next one, for the funds it raised – but equally for “the lovely atmosphere created by a community coming together”.
The event, organised by Darragh Glynn, Helena Heduan and a group of sixth year students, was community-driven and aimed at raising funds for extracurricular development in the school. They expressed their appreciation for the generosity of local enterprises as 18 business contributed sponsorship and to the raffle.
The run attracted a large crowd, more than 50 tractors, and strong support from the community, past and present students, and local vintage clubs, in particular Rahugh and Dangan.
Locals and staff from St Joseph’s gave up their time to help in running the event, from parking and registration to traffic control, and local gardaí helped ensure the safety of all involved. Their presence helped maintain order and allowed the event to proceed without incident, so that participants could enjoy the run with peace of mind.
The organising group thanked the school parents council, whose members baked cakes and buns, made sandwiches, and who worked hard to make sure there was a constant supply of tea, food, and goodies as well. They also expressed gratitude to David Smyth Catering “for his generosity in providing lovely soup and sandwiches”.
“Thank you to our sponsors, those who donated spot prizes and those who came and gave such generous donations to our buckets. We can never get over people’s generosity, and it was out in full force on Sunday.
“Thank you to all of you who came and registered your tractors to take part in our first event of this kind. Your enthusiasm, sense of fun, and good humour made it such an enjoyable experience and it was the finest display of machinery that Rochfortbridge has ever seen.
"And, someone has to oversee an event like this and pull it all together, and there was no stone left unturned by Ms Heduan, Mr Glynn, and their student committee – well done to you on a super event and thank you for organising a day that we will never forget.
“Until next year, keep the tractors polished up and we will be waiting to do it all again as soon as we can.”
Murphy Construction, main sponsor of the tractor run at St Joseph’s Secondary School, Rochfortbridge, caused a buzz of excitement when they pulled up to school in this machine.
The run had taken place on Sunday week last, November 17, and the crew from Murphy Construction visited the school later in the week, to meet the members of the student committee who worked with Ms Heduan and Mr Glynn to make the event a success.
Liam Lavelle, Kyle Carney, James Taylor, Tommy Smullen, Paddy Geraghty and Darragh Smullen were the team who did such a good job. They and the rest of the team at St Joseph’s thanked Murphy Construction.
“Support from a company like this is invaluable to a school community like ours, and thank you so much to the lads for calling down to see us.”